Steadfast LA, the new nonprofit organization founded by developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso to help in the recovery efforts across fire-ravaged Los Angeles County, is partnering with the prefab-home construction company Samara to provide new houses for low-income residents who lost their properties in the recent wildfires.
City News Service reports the homes will be made available at no cost to the fire survivors. The initiative is being fully funded through the Steadfast LA Foundation. Joe Gebbia, co-founder of both Airbnb and Samara, is donating $5 million to this effort, which will be followed by $10 million in matching donations. The Caruso Family Foundation is providing an unspecified sum.
Steadfast LA did not state how many homes will be made available or when they will first be delivered. The Samara homes are factory built in roughly five to six months and on-site installation requires “a few weeks of minimal on-site work,” the nonprofit added.
“This initiative is about keeping communities intact,” said Caruso in a statement. “Many of the people struggling the most right now are those who have lived in these neighborhoods for decades. They built their homes many years ago, they’re underinsured or lack insurance, and now they have lost everything. We’re giving these victims a realistic way to stay on their properties and quickly return to their lives at a time when the deck is stacked against them.”
Photo: Samara
Am I missing something? Why would it take 5-6 months for a factory to build a pre-fab home? We stick build homes on site in less time.
That’s what is happening in Maui, and they wont let them rebuild or return to their homesite. Plus the rehab homes offered are way up the hill, not oceanside. Ocean side save for elites.
Thank you Rick and Steadfast! Free of charge. WOW.
It takes 25-40 days for any Manufactured House to be built in California. Obviously that is much quicker than the 9-12 months minimum time for site built homes. The average permit for just the foundation to place the manufactured home on takes longer!